NHS pension nominated person

tinsy

Sorry for your loss. You may be correct in thinking you not being entitled to a spouses pension because of your living arrangements but she may have nominated you as beneficiary for death in service lump sum, the amount of which varies depending on the scheme she was in. Definitely worth claiming even if you give it, or share it, with her son. If he is under 23 he will also be able to claim child's pension, or over 23 if considered a dependent and fits certain criteria. She obviously had some forethought about the future and she would want you and/or her son to benefit. Please claim it. Good luck pensions will guide you through the process 

garybolton

Emmia said:

garybolton said:

Hi, I am hoping someone can give me some advice about my girlfriends nhs pension. We were together for approximately 10 years before she died of cancer in January 2024. A couple of months later I received a letter from NHS pensions saying my gf's pension had been left to me and to fill in a form to claim it. However we did not live together as we both had sons of a similar age who had completely different social circles, so we decided we would wait until one of the kids flew the nest, This meant I did not meet the criteria and the pension just seems to have been forfeited. I have been told that pensions can go to a nominated person, in which case there is no criteria apart from them being given my details which they obviously have to contact me in the first place. Can someone please advise what I should do next pleas

I don't understand why you didn't claim when sent the form? You were / are the nominated beneficiary.

I also don't understand who "we" is? And what social circles your sons have and whether they've left home seems a bit irrelevant to you claiming the pension or not.

I filled in the forms and sent them off, and as we were financially separate, both working and running our own homes with teenage sons living on opposite sides of town, we decided to wait and see if one of them moved out before we lived together. Our sons were 13 and 14 when we started seeing each other, and we lived about 3 miles from each other so both kids had their own friend groups. To claim the pension we would have had tp live together for 2 years or be heavily financially linked.

garybolton

Edi81 said:

Sorry for your loss - grief and dealing with the loss of your GF has obviously overtaken. 

I would send in the forms and take it from there. Often workplace pensions allow you to nominate someone which your GF had the foresight to do.

Thank you.I did send the forms off, but didn't qualify apparently 

garybolton

Thank you everyone for your replies, just to clarify : 
Lyndas sons were 24 and 33 at the time of her death.
A lump sum Death In Service benefit was payable, which was due to be split between her sons. I was sent all of the information for that too, I informed her sons then sent off the forms which I had received. I then got a letter back saying they had sent the wrong forms and as it is above £5,000 it needs to go through Probate. One of her sons has to claim that, but neither have done up to now as they both want the other to do it for reasons I don't understand.
I never wanted Lynda to die, let alone profit from her death, but a close friend of Lyndas was talking to me the other week and said Lynda had told her what she had tried to sort out, which basically the lump sum to be split and the pension to come to me.
To be honest i only sent the forms off in the first place after being badgered by our friends, and so far it seems the answers on here are the same as I had found or been told. I just think it is wrong that Lynda had paid into her pension for over 20 years and it can just disappear without a trace.

garybolton

A little more information as I'm new to this and forget things that have been asked.
Lynda was 50 when she died after an 8 month battle with cancer

Emmia

garybolton said:

Thank you everyone for your replies, just to clarify : 
Lyndas sons were 24 and 33 at the time of her death.
A lump sum Death In Service benefit was payable, which was due to be split between her sons. I was sent all of the information for that too, I informed her sons then sent off the forms which I had received. I then got a letter back saying they had sent the wrong forms and as it is above £5,000 it needs to go through Probate. One of her sons has to claim that, but neither have done up to now as they both want the other to do it for reasons I don't understand.
I never wanted Lynda to die, let alone profit from her death, but a close friend of Lyndas was talking to me the other week and said Lynda had told her what she had tried to sort out, which basically the lump sum to be split and the pension to come to me.
To be honest i only sent the forms off in the first place after being badgered by our friends, and so far it seems the answers on here are the same as I had found or been told. I just think it is wrong that Lynda had paid into her pension for over 20 years and it can just disappear without a trace.

The pension Lynda had was a defined benefit pension, this isn't a "pot" she owned (like a defined contribution scheme) instead it's more like a shared fund that pays out to those who make it to retirement, which Lynda sadly did not.

The contributions haven't "disappeared"... those who don't make it to retirement (and those who paid in for a long time but have only a brief retirement) pay for the pensions of those that live to 100, and give them a guaranteed income that is uprated, but I appreciate that's no comfort to you or her sons now.

Lynda's plan wouldn't have worked as you weren't married, DB schemes are old fashioned in this respect.

Sarahspangles

Emmia said:

Lynda's plan wouldn't have worked as you weren't married, DB schemes are old fashioned in this respect.

That’s no longer correct. You don’t have to be married to receive a partner’s pension in either the NHS or LGPS. More evidence is required if you aren’t married or in a formalised civil partnership. In the NHS you can complete a form which states your partner is an adult dependent. It’s optional but ought to simplify the process of proving entitlement.

hyubh

Sarahspangles said:

Emmia said:

Lynda's plan wouldn't have worked as you weren't married, DB schemes are old fashioned in this respect.

That’s no longer correct. You don’t have to be married to receive a partner’s pension in either the NHS or LGPS. More evidence is required if you aren’t married or in a formalised civil partnership. In the NHS you can complete a form which states your partner is an adult dependent. It’s optional but ought to simplify the process of proving entitlement.

Indeed, and the OP has already made explicit he failed the scheme's test for a qualifying unmarried partner.

It's less about being 'old fashioned' than pension benefits having to stop somewhere. Originally in DB schemes, what can still be called 'dependant pensions' were for literal dependants - widowers didn't get anything, unless the scheme paid the equivalent of a widow's pension due to the widower being 'incapacitated' or somesuch and so financially dependent on his wife.

Marcon

garybolton said:

Thank you everyone for your replies, just to clarify : 
Lyndas sons were 24 and 33 at the time of her death.
A lump sum Death In Service benefit was payable, which was due to be split between her sons. I was sent all of the information for that too, I informed her sons then sent off the forms which I had received. I then got a letter back saying they had sent the wrong forms and as it is above £5,000 it needs to go through Probate. One of her sons has to claim that, but neither have done up to now as they both want the other to do it for reasons I don't understand.

Probably because they haven't a clue where to start with the whole process, but might not like to admit it. Losing their mum when she was only 50, and then being faced with a task many people find daunting, has had the same impact on them that it has on plenty of others: do nothing/try to avoid/bury head in sand/hope someone else will do it.

I appreciate that you too are grieving, but is there any way you could give some practical assistance to the boys? There's lots of online guidance on what to do when someone dies without leaving a will, and if the boys both apply to administer the estate (they are 'equally entitled' - https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate/if-theres-not-a-will), hopefully they will be able to give each other support.

garybolton

Marcon said:

garybolton said:

Thank you everyone for your replies, just to clarify : 
Lyndas sons were 24 and 33 at the time of her death.
A lump sum Death In Service benefit was payable, which was due to be split between her sons. I was sent all of the information for that too, I informed her sons then sent off the forms which I had received. I then got a letter back saying they had sent the wrong forms and as it is above £5,000 it needs to go through Probate. One of her sons has to claim that, but neither have done up to now as they both want the other to do it for reasons I don't understand.

Probably because they haven't a clue where to start with the whole process, but might not like to admit it. Losing their mum when she was only 50, and then being faced with a task many people find daunting, has had the same impact on them that it has on plenty of others: do nothing/try to avoid/bury head in sand/hope someone else will do it.

I appreciate that you too are grieving, but is there any way you could give some practical assistance to the boys? There's lots of online guidance on what to do when someone dies without leaving a will, and if the boys both apply to administer the estate (they are 'equally entitled' - https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate/if-theres-not-a-will), hopefully they will be able to give each other support.

Thank you for your reply. The lads tend to squabble over everything and the eldest one is dyslexic so avoids anything to do with form filling etc.
They both want control, yet both want the other to do it.
I arranged to take the younger son to the CAB to get the ball rolling, and when I turned up to take him he had made other arrangements with his mates, He told his older brother he was going to CAB with his mates as they had other things to do in town, but didn't end up going. 
I rang a Probate solicitor who provides a fixed fee service (£1275+VAT, plus £300 probate fee) and told him I would lend him the money, He said he would ring the solicitor, but he didn't ring.
The DIS payment must be claimed within 2 years, 12 months of this has already passed, which I have explained to the sons but it seems to fall on deaf ears.

Thank you for your reply, and I will try talking to the older son to see if I can at least ensure Lyndas wishes as far as her sons go come to fruition.